In a blog called Psychology Today, Gullibility was defined as the psychological state where a person is easily deceived. The result often appears as the gullible person being duped or taken advantage of because they make decisions based on unlikely propositions that lack proof.
You are probably familiar with scam calls. You get a call from a random, unknown number. The person on the other end says that your bank account is about to freeze permanently and to secure it, you need to provide a code number that will be texted to you on your mobile. The words ‘freeze permanently’ worry you.
You get a text message with a code number on your mobile and you are told to send the code number to the person on the other line. They also tell you that you need to hurry and send the code to them within the next ten seconds or your bank account will close permanently, losing all access to your money.
In those ten seconds, what you think of and how you respond will define the next course of action.
In this situation, either of the two questions might pop up in your mind:
Question #1: How soon will I get the code?
Question #2: How or why is my bank account going to freeze?
If question #1 popped into your mind, it means you have undoubtedly believed the scammer’s bluff.
On the other hand, if question #2 pops into your mind, it will force you to question the person over the phone. “What do you mean about my bank account being frozen?”
“There’s no time to explain. We will tell you everything after you give us the code.”
“No, I deserve an explanation. Where are you calling from? I have never received a call from my bank from an unknown number. Which branch are you calling from?”
Automatically, the person on the other line hangs up.
After getting in touch with a representative at your bank, you are informed about these scams and told to stay away from such calls. This is what happens when you prefer not to be rushed into something, be it a scam or any other decision.
However, those who ask question #1 learn things the hard way.
Being simple as gullible
There are people in this world who are truly good but gullible, probably because of their good nature. They want to help and do good to those around them. Unfortunately, they end up doing good for deceivers and liars, robbing themselves of the chance to help those more deserving. Simple yet gullible people may tend to trust too easily.
Does this mean one must become suspicious or stop believing in the others to make sure they are never cheated again? That is neither an answer nor a solution.
Simplicity in a person is one of the most precious gifts to have. However, it is the gullibility factor that needs to be addressed and mended, which can only be done by enhancing one’s Spiritual Quotient (SiQ).
“When one embodies simplicity and is spiritually heightened,
the need to push for answers to unnecessary questions is dissolved.”
~Krescon Coaches
Simple as Spiritual
Consider a recent celebrity scandal: a pregnancy rumor. As the news spread, social media erupted with opinions, from moral judgments to speculation about the father.
The focus shifted from the pregnancy itself to the celebrity’s personal life: her relationships, family, and character. Despite the public frenzy, the truth was eventually revealed: the fake pregnancy was a publicity stunt for a forthcoming film. The public quickly moved on, forgetting the scandal and turning their attention to the film.
That’s what gullibility looks like. Gobbling up the wild goose chase that is fed to you. The people who read the news about the celebrity’s unexpected pregnancy got people talking about her. She received negative publicity but when her movie was launched, the media fed a new story to the gullible fans and crowd.
“Gullibility can be a wild ride, leading to unexpected twists and turns
and often ending in disappointment.”
~Krescon Coaches
When you fuel your SiQ, you are lowering your gullibility ratio. It is like your home’s thermostat. Only here, the thermostat of your Spirituality Quotient represents your ratio of simplicity to gullibility.
An increase in your Spiritual Quotient means you use your heightened spirituality factor to dissolve your gullibility filter and optimize your clarity builder. It is your spirituality that acts as the clarity builder. Everything becomes simple, so much so that you can make decisions easily in complex situations.
When simplicity is mixed with spirituality, there is clarity. There are no wild goose chases on points or aspects that do not need your attention. For instance, imagine the intensity with which some people believe a black cat crossing their path is bad luck. Can a cat not walk without being termed as bad luck? Maybe the person was in the cat’s way! Alternatively, glass breaking during an auspicious occasion would not mean bad luck but simply that someone was clumsy while managing it.
Superstitions and supernatural concepts have long stretched a rather fine line between what’s real and what’s not. Many people are fooled in the name of supernatural phenomena into paying more money for completing certain tasks. A fake psychic or fortune teller can abuse their skills to use the story of the loss of a loved one. They could turn a person’s gullible simplicity into believing that their loved one from the afterlife wants to pass on a message to them. However untrue it may be, a person with gullible simplicity will trust too easily and fall for it. On the other hand, a person with high spiritual simplicity will have clarity about what to and not to believe.
From superstitions to the supernatural and people’s opinions to their lies, all unnecessary clutter will get dissolved. This is the power of simplicity paired with spirituality. Everything is boiled down to keeping things simple and not complicating them with gullibility.
Clarity sets in because the very things that created fear within you are dissolved.
Therefore, allow yourself to become a clarity-builder rather than a gullibility filter where the negative and irrelevant noises of the world cloud your judgment.
Don’t let the world rob you of the innocence you have. Instead, allow your SiQ to prevent gullibility from taking over. Here’s an interesting poem I read about gullibility from the perception of a tree:
Stunted ~by Cruzito
With all the life behind me,
And unknown more to see,
I am the bare, the naked, rooted,
Austere and lonely tree.
A man had come to say hello,
With shining axe, and smile.
He tipped his hat upon his face
I thought to rest awhile.
He slept under my canopy
Until the end of day.
But while I slept at night he rose
To cut my leaves away.
Upon that fateful morning,
Which I shall never forget,
I woke to find not leaves, nor man-
Instead was my regret.
With all the life behind me
And unknown more to see
I am the bare, the naked, rooted,
Austere and lonely tree.
